An axis is a measurement of the orientation of an object in 3-dimensional space. This might not sound like something you need to know about when it comes to eyeglasses, but there are two types of axes that exist: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal axes refer to measurements taken in relation to the ground, while vertical ones measure in relation to gravity. When determining what type of glasses would be best for someone’s face shape, these measurements can come into play!
Axis is the measurement of your lens from one side to another. The most common axis would be 90, which means that when you are looking through your glasses at something straight ahead if the numbers on each side are not equal, then this usually indicates a cylindrical correction that someone may need for their vision. A smaller number like 80 represents less cylinder and will make it easier to view things up close with reading glasses or bifocals. If someone has an axis of 95 they still have some astigmatism justify, so their eyesight isn’t as sharp. An easy way to remember what different axis means is by thinking about how many hours you had in college -the higher the number of hours (like 160) equals more cylinder correction.
Types of axes
There are three main types of axes, 0, 90, and 180.
A zero axis means that the line from one side to another is exactly straight down the lens -or imagine a ruler with numbers on it going across your lenses perfectly parallel to both edges. If someone has a zero axis, they may not need glasses for certain tasks like reading or using their phone but might have trouble driving at night because this type does not correct astigmatism.
90-degree axis – This represents vertical lines being centered in each eye when looking through the lenses, which would mean better vision if you were doing something up close like reading small print or sewing/embroidering. Another way to remember what number is associated with this type of correction is to think of a clock face and how the hands are perfectly straight up at 90 degrees -this represents no astigmatism.
180 degree axis– This is the opposite and means that horizontal lines would be centered when looking through your glasses, so someone with this type might have trouble doing something like driving or working on an assembly line where they need to look side to side. You can remember what number is associated with 180 by thinking about how you hold your arms out as if flying around in a circle – just imagine those numbers going vertically across your lenses instead!
